Cheesy Fajita Open-Faced Sandwich

Cheesy Fajita Sandwich

Here's a lunch that can be prepared in under 5 minutes. We had fajitas for dinner the night before so I put away two little portions for lunch the next day. The chicken breast strips come already cooked with fajita spices and can be found in the frozen section of the supermarket. Combined with strips of colourful sliced onions and sweet & hot peppers, the chicken fajita strips are laid on top of a mixture of grated Mexican cheese, mayonnaise and red pepper flakes with a sprinkling of fresh herbs.. Once toasted in the toaster-oven, the cheese melts and forms a creamy base for the chicken fajita. These open-faced sandwiches taste great on crusty Italian bread or tortillas.

Serve with a fresh salad and/or fruit. This meal is served with a 3 Bean Salad.

Ingredients:

1 cup chicken fajita strips, cooked & frozen

1 cup sweet multi-coloured peppers, sliced

1 serrano pepper, sliced

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1 onion, sliced

2 Tbsp. grated Mexican cheese

2 Tbsp. mayonnaise

1 tsp. crushed dried red peppers

2 green onions, chopped

1 Tbsp. cilantro, chopped

2 flour tortillas or 4 slices of toasted bread

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.
2. Toss chicken, peppers and onions in the hot oil until cooked but still crisp.
3. Remove from heat and set aside.
4. Mix grated cheese, mayonnaise and red peppers in a bowl.
5. Spread on tortillas or bread, making sure to work all the way to the edges.
6. Top with prepared fajita strips and sprinkle with green onions & cilantro.
7. Toast in a toaster-oven just until cheese melts.
8. Serve right away with a salad and/or fruit.

Spanish Rice with Chicken

Coming up with something new, interesting and tasty for our Tuesdate night with a GrandBoy is always a challenge. Spanish rice with chicken came to mind because the boys seem to enjoy eating at Taco Bell. Served with sliced cucumbers and shredded lettuce, the fried rice can be rolled up in soft, flour tortillas and eaten like a burrito. Hope Kole likes his dinner tonight. 

Chicken Fajita Casserole

Chicken Fajita Casserole

This deconstruction of a chicken fajita meal combines all its ingredients into a hot & bubbling casserole. I had to come up with something quick that would also appeal to our grandsons (6-8 year-olds) and this met the criteria, especially because we had chicken fajita strips in the freezer. The young boys and their grandparents enjoyed scooping it up with Doritos and heated flour tortillas.

INGREDIENTS

1 pkg. (16 oz./1 lb.) fajita chicken strips, cubed or shredded
1 can (14.5 oz.) diced new potatoes
1 can (10.5 oz.) Campbell's cream of chicken soup
2 Tbsp. low-fat sour cream
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. red pepper flakes
1 pkg. (16 oz./2 cups) reduced fat grated cheese
6 stalks green onions, whites only chopped

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Set aside 1 Tbsp. grated cheese for garnish.
3. Mix remaining ingredients together and place in an 8" x 8" Pyrex dish.
4. Bake at 400°F for 20 minutes, garnish with grated cheese.
5. Return to oven and bake for 5 minutes more until cheese melts.
6. Serve hot with Doritos or tortillas.

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Spanish Chicken Rice

Spanish Chicken Rice Bowl

Spanish Chicken Rice Skillet

GrandBoy #1 is spending the evening with us today, so this dish was made in his honor. I removed his portion before adding the green onions & chili powder. The fajita chicken strips can be replaced with shredded rotisserie or any form of left-over roasted chicken. The rice was cooked and refrigerated overnight which prevents it from becoming mushy even after all the tossing and turning.

Chicken Pot Pie Casserole

Today being Thursday, is GrandBoy’s day. GrandBoy #2 who is 5 years old, will be visiting us and preparing something appealing for him is a big concern. I thought of individual chicken pot pies, but the thought of fiddling with puff pastry and individual bowls of stuff was pretty daunting. Here is the result of simplifying the entire process – a casserole of chicken pot pie ingredients topped with cracker crumbs.  Hope he likes it!

Loaded Baked Potato And Chicken Casserole

Loaded Baked Potato & Chicken Casserole

The inspiration piece at the link above is a healthy recipe. I made a few changes to pump up the flavour with the addition of fajita chicken strips and red pepper flakes. My recipe is much simpler and more straightforward because I've made use of several pre-cooked, ready-made products such as fajita chicken strips and diced potatoes which cut down the baking time by more than half. Before I added the sour cream to the casserole, it looked kind of dry. The outcome of this entire experiment could not have been more successful. It is delicious!